ANTIPOLO – Justin Quiban, back from an overseas campaign, returned to local turf with flair, carding an eagle-spiked six-under-par 65 to wrest the first-round lead in the ICTSI Forest Hills Classic at the Nicklaus layout here on Tuesday.

On break from the Asian Tour and International Series, Quiban made the most of ideal scoring conditions early in the day. He opened with two birdies and punctuated his charge with an eagle-3 on the par-5 10th. Despite a stumble with a bogey on the tight par-4 12th, he closed strong, birdieing three of the last five holes for a 33-32 scorecard on the par-71 course.

His fiery finish edged out early leader Tom Marcelo and seasoned campaigner Guido van der Valk, who matched 66s for joint second.

“I didn’t really expect to lead, but my game has been trending in the right direction,” said Quiban. “I just committed to every shot and trusted my game. The outcome just happened to put me in the lead.”

Despite lacking “local knowledge” of the Forest Hills terrain, Quiban credited mental discipline and shot-by-shot commitment for his stellar round.

“Just one small doubt here and you could hit it off-line, lose a ball, or worse, make double,” said the three-time Philippine Golf Tour leg winner. “So staying committed was the key.”

Despite coming off a lengthy break from Tour action, van der Valk showed no signs of rust, opening with back-to-back birdies and adding five more against a lone bogey to match Quiban’s six-under card.

However, his strong run unraveled slightly on the 18th, where a misjudged approach led to a closing bogey and cost him a share of the lead.

“I hit the middle of the fairway but got the wind wrong,” said the Dutchman.

“I hit it good to start with but not quite sure where my game would be,” said van der Valk. “I didn’t expect to be in this position after coming off a long break. I managed to get some practice in, but you never really know how rusty you are until you're back in tournament conditions. Fortunately, that strong start helped calm me down, and I was able to build momentum from there.”

Marcelo, meanwhile, recovered from three early bogeys with a birdie barrage, including three straight from No. 5 to secure a share of second.

The Marikina native, who missed the cut in the first two legs of the circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc., admitted to nerves early on. “Parang kinabahan ako (I think I got a bit nervous),” he said. “But after that slump, nag-settle yung laro ko (my game settled down).”

Defending champion Keanu Jahns and Jeffren Lumbo trailed by one with 67s, while a host of challengers lurked just one to three strokes back, setting the stage for a prolonged battle of precision shotmaking, strategic iron play, clutch putting, and course management on a risk-and-reward layout where fortunes can quickly shift.

Jahns, who scored his breakthrough win here last year, matched par at the front but rallied with four birdies at the back, while Lumbo impressed early with a four-under 32 but cooled off with a pair of bogeys against two birdies coming home.

Reymon Jaraula stood at solo sixth at 68 after a roller-coaster round that included a double bogey and an eagle on No. 16, while club pro Randy Garalde used his familiarity with the rolling layout to notch a 69, and a slew of others, including Rupert Zaragosa, Carl Corpus, Luis Bagtas, and two Japanese bets – Junichi Katayama and Atsushi Ueda – carded 70s to stay in the hunt.

Other notable names, however, found the going tough – hampered either by a lengthy layoff or a dip in form.

Angelo Que, aiming to extend his back-to-back title run from Pradera Verde and Eagle Ridge, entered the tournament with optimism. But the three-time Asian Tour winner, still reeling from a string of lackluster performances abroad, bogeyed his first three holes. Though he rallied with four birdies, three more bogeys dropped him to a tie for 24th with a three-over 74.

Also finishing at 74 were Michael Bibat, Zanieboy Gialon, Gab Manotoc and reigning Match Play champion Arnold Villacencio.

Clyde Mondilla, who cruised to victory here in 2023, looked sharp early with birdies on Nos. 2 and 3. But a stretch of four bogeys over 10 holes from No. 5 stalled his momentum. A late birdie on No. 16 salvaged a one-over 72, leaving him in a share of 17th alongside six others, including recent Asian Development Tour winner Aidric Chan.

Meanwhile, Tony Lascuña struggled to get anything going on the Nicklaus layout. The multi-titled veteran slipped early with two bogeys and a double bogey on the front nine, added another bogey on No. 14, and managed just a single birdie on the 16th. He signed for an uncharacteristic 76, tumbling to a tie for 44th.